The present invention is directed to a disposable oil filter cartridge for use with and in motorcycle engines which engine system includes an oil tank or reservoir. Such tank will normally serve as a lubricant reservoir and is arranged separate from the crankcase of the engine with the oil being pumped from the engine to the reservoir or tank and thereafter being drawn from the tank or reservoir for reentry to the engine.
The applicant is aware of the filtering devices that currently exist for such engines and although various disposable filters exist for automobile engines or the like. None of these filters would be usable for motorcycle engines which include an in-tank unit and which provide a pressure relief for permitting the oil to flow from the cartridge or filtering element without passing through the filtering portion.
Such filter units include patents to Hall, U.S. Pat. No. 3,853,763; Rinaldo, U.S. Pat. No. 3,750,888; Stack, U.S. Pat. No. 3,957,640 and Codo, U.S. Pat. No. 3,883,430. A primary difference with the applicant's device and these units is the permission of limited non-filtered flow.
A standard filtering system for a motorcycle engine includes a housing which is receivable into the oil tank and which includes a removable inner core. The changing of the filter requires that this inner core be removed from the housing and the housing be cleaned with a new filter placed therein. This cleaning and replacement is tedious and time consuming and, unless done properly, does not provide for total removal of sediments and dirt within the oil being used or new oil being added and this dirt retention can result in damage to the engine. The automobile engine filters are normally self contained cartridges which are arranged within the oil flow system of the auto and not housed within an oil tank or reservoir. As such, these filters are self contained units with all oil flow being contained therein with a self contained inlet and outlet with the obvious difference being the flow of oil from the applicant's device being directly into a reservoir or tank.
With the applicant's unit, the filter device is received into the tank or reservoir and the normal flow of oil therethrough is received under exhaust engine pressure and the oil is passed through a filter material into the tank or reservoir with the unit including a bypass flow area which will permit flow of oil into the tank or reservoir without passing the same through the filter medium when the back pressure would prevent a positive flow of oil. With the applicant's unit, the cost of the same permits disposal rather than cleaning and replacement and will result in lower labor costs with more effective filtering operation.
It is therefore an object of the applicant's invention to provide a disposable oil filter cartridge which is particularly usable with motorcycle engines or similar engines which employ an oil tank or reservoir.
It is a further object of the applicant's invention to provide a disposable oil filter cartridge having a housing body and a filter medium or element therein with flow passages formed through the periphery of the body to allow flow through the medium and directly outwardly through the body.
It is still a further object of the applicant's invention to provide a disposable oil filter element for utilization with motorcycle engines or the like which engines include an individual oil tank or reservoir wherein the oil received into the tank is under pressure and the filter element includes a pressure relief to allow direct flow of oil into the tank upon a back pressure increase through the filter medium.
These and other objects and advantages of the applicant's invention will appear from a consideration of the accompanying drawings and disclosure.